Forsaken Canyon

“You don’t have to do that, Wes. I’m glad to help you any way I can.” She leaned back against her desk, aware of her notes that she wanted to read over sitting behind her just waiting for her. But Wes was a friend and the newest history professor on staff. “After all, I’ve got a vested interest in your career since I was your graduate advisor. It’s good to see how well you’re doing.”

“After that, I think I should scratch lunch plans and take you to dinner instead.” Wes moved closer.

Sweat glazed her forehead and upper lip. He’d invaded her personal space, although there was at least a foot between them. But with the desk behind her, she had little room to maneuver away. She offered him a trembling smile. “I wish I could, but I’m swamped right now. Maybe another time.”

“Sure.” He backed up, his grin wavering for a few seconds before he reinforced it.

Kit inhaled a deep breath and relaxed her grip on the edge of her desk. When he left, she slipped into the chair nearby, her legs weak. Why hadn’t she seen his interest before? Maybe she was jumping to the wrong conclusion, and it was only appreciation for what she’d helped him with during the three years of their close association, first as a graduate student and now as a professor.

She liked Wes; she saw the same appreciation for history as she had, but that was all she would ever feel toward any man—friendship. Discovering Gregory’s betrayal on top of dealing with his murder had nearly sent her over the edge. The Lord and her friends had managed to hold her together, but she didn’t want to go through that kind of loss ever again.

She caught sight of her notes on her desk and stood. She still needed to reread them before her class. Afterward, she would tackle the problem of finding a guide.

A bright shaft of light slanted across Hawke’s desk at the police station. He finished the report and slapped the folder closed. Time to go home. He needed to check and see if his new ranch hand was working out. Anna was right, not that he would ever tell her. He should pay more attention to the family ranch and make sure his mother wasn’t burdened with too much work.

He started to rise from his chair, but the phone ringing stopped him in midaction. He sank back down and snatched up the receiver. “Lonechief.”

“Hawke—”

He instantly recognized Zach’s voice and sat up straight, remembering whom his cousin had sent to him only a couple of days ago.

“Maggie and I want you to come to dinner at our house before the dedication of the Collier/Somers Wing of the museum.”

“I forgot about the dedication. It’s this Saturday night?”

“Yes, in just two days. I’m glad I called to remind you. Is Evelyn coming?”

“She wouldn’t miss it for the world, but Albert is bringing her.”

“Albert Cloudwalker? Doesn’t he own the trading post by the highway into Albuquerque?”

“Yes, and yes, Mama has been seeing him.”

“Interesting.”

There was a wealth of questions in that one word. “I’m glad she’s seeing someone finally.”

A long pause, then, “I wish you would reconsider taking Kit to Desolation Canyon.”

Hawke had known that Zach would approach him about this, but it didn’t make any difference. He wouldn’t go to the canyon again. He couldn’t. Not there. “What time is dinner?”

“Six, since the dedication ceremony is at eight. And I get the point. No more talking about Kit and Desolation Canyon.”

“I’ve always said you were the smart one in the family, that is, after your grandfather.”

“I take that as a compliment. Red was exceptional.”

“See you Saturday.” Hawke hung up, staring at the pool of sunlight warming his desk.

A picture of a no-nonsense woman with long blond hair and blue eyes materialized in his mind. The determination he’d glimpsed in her worried him. He wouldn’t put it past her to try to find someone else to take her into the canyon. The only other person capable of doing that was his uncle. Thankfully Gus lived halfway between here and the canyon, and he rarely came into town. Even if he did, Hawke wasn’t concerned Gus would agree to guide the professor into that maze of ravines and mesas. His uncle was a hermit and hated to be around people. Gus only tolerated Hawke for short periods of time because he took him his supplies every couple of months. But everything he’d learned about the land was from his uncle.

Tired, Hawke flattened his hands on his desktop and pushed himself to his feet. Even if she tried to find someone, she wouldn’t.

He headed toward the door and left the station before something came up to keep him there. Yes, he worked a lot of hours, but he knew when he needed to sleep. With long strides he covered the distance to his Jeep quickly and climbed inside.

As he pulled out of the parking space in front of the tribal police station, he peered both ways down the lengthy street that ran through the heart of the small town of San Angelo. His gaze lit upon a woman coming out of Anna’s café, and he braked. He watched Dr. Kit Sinclair stroll toward the red Honda parked in front.

Almost as though his arms and legs had a mind of their own, he made a U-turn and drove toward the café.

TWO

I’m doing my job by discovering what she’s up to. If she does something foolish, I’m the one who will have to clean up the mess.

Yeah, right, nothing else motivates you.

Hawke ignored that little voice in his head and came to a halt a few feet from her car. The woman he wished he could ban from the pueblo wheeled around, her eyes growing round as he slipped from his Jeep.

“I didn’t think I would see you again in San Angelo.” He hadn’t intended to fling a challenge in her face, but somehow his words came out that way.

She stiffened, a white-knuckled grip on her black purse straps. “I didn’t think I had to ask your permission.”

“What brings you out this way a second time?”

She pinched her lips together and opened her car door. “Nothing that concerns you. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back to town.”

He observed her driving away and decided to do a little investigating. Striding to the café’s entrance, he knew if anyone could tell him why Kit was in town it would be Anna.

Inside, only a few tables held customers enjoying a late lunch. He scanned the large room and saw his cousin behind the counter, talking with Lester Running Bear, his long black hair hanging in a braid down his back. As Hawke moved toward Anna, the older man rose and turned toward him. A frown marred his craggy face.

“See ya, Anna.” Avoiding the direct path to the exit, his head down, Lester circumvented Hawke.

Hawke stopped at the long counter that ran the length of the café. “Has Lester been drinking? Is that why he’s dodging me?”

“He was sober.” Anna began wiping down the laminated top, her gaze averted.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Hawke settled onto a stool.

She stopped her cleaning and looked him directly in the eye. “Lester’s going to be Kit Sinclair’s guide to Desolation Canyon.”

He leaped to his feet and started for the door, then realized that the woman in question was probably halfway to the highway to Albuquerque. He came back to Anna. “Why didn’t you try to stop that?”

“Because I didn’t know until after she left. Lester was just telling me.”

“He can’t do that. He’s never sober long enough to show anyone anything.”

“Then I suggest you give her a call and tell her that.”

After the look she’d sent him out in the parking lot, he was sure that the second he identified himself she would slam down the phone. He would be in Albuquerque in two days for the dedication ceremony. He’d go see her then and make her listen to him. There was no way he would let Lester guide her anywhere.

Saturday evening Hawke rang Kit Sinclair’s bell. When no one answered, he pounded on the door. After a few minutes, he had to acknowledge she wasn’t home, which meant he would now have to make an extra trip into town to see her. Unless she was at the dedication tonight for the Collier/Somers Wing at the museum. She’d helped Zach with the exhibit, so hopefully Hawke would see her there and set her straight.

Leaving the porch, he headed toward his Jeep in the driveway. If she wasn’t at the museum, he would stop by on the way back to the pueblo. He didn’t intend to stay late at the ceremony, anyway.

“She’s already left,” said the distinguished-looking neighbor. Probably in his early forties, he held a hose, watering his plants, most of them cacti, along the border of his property with Kit’s.

“Do you know if she’ll be back soon?” He could be a little late to Zach’s if it would save him a trip into Albuquerque another day.

The man removed his hat, revealing thick, wavy blond hair. “I don’t think so. She said something about a function at the college. I can tell her you came by, Mr….”

Hawke took the man’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Hawke Lonechief. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. We’re going to the same function. I’ll catch her there.” At least, he hoped they were, and he could put an end to the woman’s pipe dream once and for all. He definitely was going to have a word with Zach about putting such a foolish idea into Kit’s head.

Since his cousin lived across town from Kit’s, Hawke had some time to plot his strategy. He really had no way of stopping anyone from going into that maze of canyons if that person was determined—like Kit—but he was sure going to try with her. He wondered if she even owned a pair of hiking boots. She had amateur written all over her face. Even if he hadn’t known exactly the hazards of the tangle of sheer cliffs, pockmarked land, treacherous escarpments that led to Desolation, not to mention the dangers in the canyon itself, he still would have discouraged her.

He wished he’d discouraged Pamela. But his wife had wanted an adventure—something risky and challenging. And he’d agreed, wanting to please her after the fight they’d had about living in New York City.

If only he had remembered what Gus had said about the canyon, with its blood-red walls when the sunlight struck it just right. If only—

Hawke shoved the thought from his mind, along with the vision of his wife the last moment he’d seen her alive. Her smile would haunt him forever. As would her scream as she plunged down to the bottom of the jagged, rocky ravine below.

Twenty minutes later he pulled in front of Zach’s house and noticed the red Honda sitting in the driveway. For a few seconds he considered leaving and grabbing dinner somewhere else before the ceremony. But he’d never run from a problem before, and this would be a good time to have that little conversation with the good professor.

His long strides quickly chewed up the space between his Jeep and the porch. When Zach opened the front door to his knock, Hawke entered, surveying the entry hall and spacious room off to the side.

“Where is she?” Hawke asked, stopping in the middle of the living area.

“Who?”

Amusement flickered in Zach’s eyes, producing a swell of anger in Hawke. “You know good and well who I’m talking about. Kit Sinclair.”

“I’m right here.”

The voice, husky for a woman, sounded behind him. Hawke pivoted toward her. She stood just inside the living room with a brown leather couch between them. “We need to talk about Lester Running Bear.”

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Zach hurried toward the French doors that led out onto the deck.

“No, we don’t,” Kit said when the click of the door closing announced they were by themselves. “Lester has agreed to be my guide. You wouldn’t, so it’s none of your business.”

“It’s my business when you’re engaging a man who is rarely sober for longer than a day and can’t find his way out of a building with a well-lit exit sign.”

Blinking, she looked away. When she reestablished eye contact with him, her neutral expression hid her earlier surprise. “You gave up that right when you turned me down.”

“Have you talked to Lester today?”

“What have you done?” She covered the few feet to the sofa and grasped its back.

“Convinced him not to take you.”

Glaring at him, Kit opened her mouth but snapped it closed before saying anything. She sucked in a soothing breath. “Do you make it a practice to interfere with someone’s life like that?”

“Yes, when that someone ignores my advice.” He circled behind the sofa and stopped just two feet short of her.

Kit plastered herself against the back of the couch, her gaze flittering from one side of him to the other. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’m going to that canyon with or without your help.”

“Lady, there is no one else, so make it easy on yourself and give the idea up.”

“You mean make it easy on you.” Lifting her chin, she stabbed him with a withering look. “I’ll find someone else, and if not, then I’ll go by myself.”

“Then I’ll arrest you.”

“On what grounds?”

“Jaywalking. I’ll come up with something.”

“I don’t know what happened to your wife in Desolation Canyon, but I am not her.”

He closed the space between them. Hissing in a breath, Kit went rigid, leaning back so far she could easily topple over the sofa with the slightest movement. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, “Don’t you ever bring my wife up again.”

Her chin went up another notch. “Oh, I see. It’s okay if you play unfair, but not me.”

He thrust his face close to hers. Panic flared in her eyes, but he didn’t back down. Too much was at stake. “This isn’t a game. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

She brought her hands up and fisted them against his chest, then shoved him back a few feet. Scurrying to the side, she rounded the couch. “I’m very aware of the stakes. My career is on the line.”

“So you would risk your life for your career?”

“Life is a risk.” She shrugged, all the earlier tension evaporating. “What if you and Zach hadn’t taken a chance last year? You all would never have found the Aztec codices. He can write his own ticket anywhere now because of that discovery.”

Her words threw him back four years to his last argument with Pamela. She’d practically said that very same thing to him. She’d wanted him to take a big corporate fraud case that he’d wanted nothing to do with. In fact, he’d brought her to New Mexico in the hopes of convincing her to relocate here. If they had stayed in New York, she would be alive today. He would have to live with that the rest of his life.

“This isn’t about Zach or me. It’s about you.” Balling his hands at his sides, he fought to keep his temper in check, but it boiled in his stomach.

“You are not my keeper. My work is very important to me, but I assure you I won’t take unnecessary risks.”

There was nothing reassuring about what she said. His gut twisted into a huge knot. “Do you even know what an unnecessary risk is?”

“I’m a highly educated woman. I’ve lived in New Mexico for half my life.” She pulled herself up tall.

“So you’ve hiked in places like Desolation Canyon?”

“Well, not exactly. If I had, I wouldn’t need you.”

Need you. Those words stuck terror into his heart. “Where have you hiked?”

“In Chaco, Mesa Verde.”

He choked back a laugh. “I can see you are prepared.”

Her glare returned. “I’ll do what it takes to be prepared. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m suddenly not hungry. I’m sure you can explain to Zach and Maggie why I left early.”

The slamming of the front door echoed through Zach’s house and brought his cousin inside.

“Obviously, the discussion didn’t go as I had planned.”

Hawke rounded on Zach. “What did you think I was going to do? I don’t back down. You know that.”

“You do when you’re wrong.”

“You think I am?”

“The information she has gathered is good. There just might be a Lost City of Gold out there or some other significant archaeological find.”

“Then you take her.”

“I would if I knew the area like you and hadn’t already committed to an expedition this summer. Besides, I’m not a real archaeologist.”

“You’re the best amateur I’ve seen. And don’t forget you’re used to fieldwork as an anthropologist.”

“This is probably a piece of cake after our adventure last year. At least there are no people trying to kill her and get the information she has.”

“If she keeps going around telling people about it, there will be.” Hawke curled his hands into fists, remembering vividly how close he, Zach and Maggie had come to dying last year. He’d never been concerned about his own life, just his cousin’s and Maggie’s.

“She’s smart. She knows when to keep her mouth shut.”

“What’s for dinner? I’m starved.”

Chuckling, Zach threw his arms up in the air. “I won’t mention it again—tonight. Let’s go eat.”

Kit stormed up to her porch and plopped down on the glider where she always liked to sit and work out her problems. The Guardian had been surprised when his GPS tracking device he’d planted under her car had indicated she was returning home. She hadn’t been gone long.

Even in the dimming light, he could see her face clearly through the binoculars. Someone had made her angry. Who? The man who had come to her house earlier that evening. He’d left clearly displeased. Had he found Kit? Had he upset her?

He would have to find out what was going on with her. He didn’t like her unhappy. Whatever it was, he could fix it. Although it was getting harder, years ago he had made it his purpose in life to protect her and give her what she needed. After all, he owed her.

It was a shame, though; sometimes she didn’t know what was best for her.

But that’s why I’m here.

The following week the door to Hawke’s office crashed open. Kit filled the entrance in all her anger. She stormed toward him as if a tornado swept through the station and planted her fists on his desk, leaning across it.

“What gives you the right to ruin my life?”

He met her fury with calm, folding his hands on his calendar blotter with his fingers interlaced. “I thought we had this little discussion last Saturday at Zach’s.”

“This isn’t about Lester.”

“Then what’s it about?”

“I hired James Harrison to be my guide, and now he has disappeared. No one has seen him. What did you do to make him leave town?”

“Who is James Harrison? I don’t know anyone by that name at Santa Maria Pueblo.”

“After Lester, I got smart. I looked elsewhere for my guide. So how did you find out about Mr. Harrison? I didn’t even say anything to Zach in case he let it slip to you.”

“Where in the world did you find this Harrison?”

She straightened, waving her hand in the air. “That’s not important. He lives in the area.”

“He does? At the pueblo?”

“Well, no. Albuquerque. He assured me he knew what he was doing. He had references.”

“Ah, references are important.” Why hadn’t he noticed how cute she was when she was angry? Her full lips formed a perfect little pout, and her eyes sparked with blue fire. But she was definitely trouble. He had to remember that.

“They are. He’s led several groups through various canyons in the state.”

“Any to Desolation Canyon?”

“No, but isn’t one canyon like another?”

“No, not at all.” Hawke lounged back in his comfortably padded chair. The day had turned interesting after a rather dull start. “And if you have to ask me that, then you have no business going in there.”

“You’re just saying that to keep me away.” She sank into the seat across from his desk.

“To put your mind at rest, I did not say anything to Harrison because I didn’t know about him.” His elbows on the arms of his chair, he steepled his fingers. “Contrary to what you may be thinking, I’ve not been following you around to see who you’ll contact next. I’ll tell you, however, that I’ve let it be known I wouldn’t be too happy if someone from the pueblo was your guide.”

“I don’t give up easily, especially now.” Her eyes narrowed.

He knew he shouldn’t ask, but he did. “Especially now?”

“I discovered some more collaborating evidence that I’m on the right track.”

“What?”

“Zach gave me a piece of advice I think I’ll take. Trust no one.”

Hawke laughed. “That sounds like my cousin. And in this situation I have to agree. Although I don’t think there’s a City of Gold out there, just the mere mention of the word gold makes men do crazy things.”

“That’s it.” She leaped from the chair, her features red with anger. “You’re going after it without me.” She stretched her upper body across his desk as if she were coming at him. “You won’t find it without my information.”

“Aren’t you forgetting that I’m the one who discovered the ruins of the mission? Do you know where they are?”

She settled back, a scowl slashing across her face. “In Desolation Canyon.”

“It covers a lot of ground. Give it up, Dr. Sinclair. You have no business going there. You’re out of shape and in no condition to make the trek.” After picking up the folder closest to him, he flipped it open. “You may have time to travel all the way here on a whim, but I have work to do and don’t have any more time to chitchat.”

Kit wanted to bang her hands on the desk to get his attention as he perused the papers in the folder. His nonchalant bearing conveyed he had not a care in the world. She wouldn’t bang his desk, but she would find a way around the man. He blocked her path to what she wanted. She’d found James Harrison, so she would come up with another escort, and this time she wouldn’t say anything to anyone, not even her neighbor who was her sounding board.

After a few seconds of staring at the top of his head, she gathered her composure, calm beginning to seep back into her. “Thank you, Mr. Lonechief.”

Outside in the bright, cloudless day, she examined the small town of San Angelo. Only twenty miles to the north lay the start of the canyon system that led to the place she wanted to go. She’d worked too hard on this theory to back down. She didn’t want the gold; she wanted the credit. She had to publish something this year if she was to stay on the faculty at Albuquerque City College and get her tenure. The history department chairperson had made that clear to her, especially in the wake of budget cuts. Her job was all she had now. Yes, she had friends, family and the Lord, but she needed something to do to keep the past at bay, to keep her mind focused forward.

Later that day Kit stared down at the chart showing one-third of New Mexico. “Samuel, I could hug you! This is just what I needed. Where did you get such a detailed map of the area I’m interested in? I’ve never seen one like this.”

“From the archaeology archives.”

“I’ve seen some of their maps, but nothing like this.”

He bent toward her and whispered, “These aren’t common knowledge and are usually kept under lock and key on the top floor of the library. Even what they are cataloged under doesn’t tell anyone much. You see where all the Indian ruins are marked. They don’t want people thinking they can go dig them up.”

“I know that. Zach told me they keep most of the discovered ruins as is, not excavated. To disturb them would cause more damage and lost knowledge. This will really help.”

“Have you found a guide yet?”

“I’m working on it. I’ve got a lead. No one as skilled as Zach Collier’s cousin, but this map will help make up for the fact I can’t get him.”

“I need to get it back upstairs. I’ll make a copy of it. Just wait right here.” Samuel took the map and turned toward the back room behind the counter.

Kit stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You won’t get into trouble for bringing the map down here, will you?”

He smiled. “Jessica, who runs that floor, owes me a favor. She knows I have it, but I promised I would bring it back by four, that all I needed to do was check a reference for one of the professors in the archaeology department.”